The present invention relates to percutaneous valve implantation, and more particularly, to virtual percutaneous valve implantation using medical images.
Valvular heart disease (VHD) is a cardiac disorder that affects a large number of patients and often requires elaborate diagnostic procedures, intervention, and long-term management. Traditionally, heart valve replacement has been performed surgically on an open heart, with associated risks including, high mortality, incidence of neurological damage, stroke, and repeated valve replacement. However, minimally invasive procedures for the valve replacement are less traumatic and reduce the risks associated with valve replacement. Percutaneous valve implantation offers a less invasive alternative to open heart surgery for patients in need of heart valve replacement, in which a prosthetic implant is delivered through a catheter. Examples of percutaneous valve implantation include percutaneous aortal valve implantation (PAVI) and percutaneous pulmonary valve implantation (PPVI).
In percutaneous valve implantation, prosthetic implants are delivered through catheters using transvenous, transarterial, or transapical techniques, while clinicians do not have a direct view of and access to the affected valve and surrounding anatomies. Accordingly, critical decisions, such as type of procedure, implant type and size, deployment location and timing, and treatment assessment, are typically based on imaging techniques. A misplaced implant can block the coronary ostia and induce a life threatening ischemic condition. Suboptimal deployment location can result in poor hemodynamic performance with severe paravalvular leakages and/or high gradients and suboptimal effective orifice. Incorrect implant sizing may require a re-operation and may damage the vessel tissue and cause catastrophic events, such as arterial dissection or rupture. Accordingly, improved techniques for percutaneous valve implantation planning, procedure guidance, and outcome assessment are desirable.